Which words should be taught? The first challenge in teaching specific words directly lies in deciding which words to teach. When considering words, question: 1)How important is the word to the reading selection or theme of study? 2)How useful is the word outside of the selection or theme? 3)Is this a word students might learn independently, perhaps through context? Four types of words are good candidates for explicit instruction: Comprehension word, “In contrast to the wounded soldier who was sent home, the homesick Rebel soldier was sent to be reunited with his regiment.”
Word Type
Explanation
Example
Comprehension word
Essential to understanding the selection and/or critical to a unit of study.
Rebel
Useful Words
Not critical to a particular domain, but likely to be encountered in other contexts
Homesick
Academic word or phrase
Cause much trouble for students lacking school experience
In contrast to
Generative Word
Provides a portal to further word learning or strategy instruction
Reunited
Use a strategy such as Knowledge Ratings at the beginning of the unit to determine which words need to be taught:
Word
Can Define/Use
Heard It
Don’t Know It
From this, you can differentiate which words need to be taught to whom and the number of words that need to be taught. No matter how carefully words are selected, it will be necessary to differentiate instruction for students in the classroom and the nature of the word-learning task.
The first challenge in teaching specific words directly lies in deciding which words to teach.
When considering words, question:
1) How important is the word to the reading selection or theme of study?
2) How useful is the word outside of the selection or theme?
3) Is this a word students might learn independently, perhaps through context?
Four types of words are good candidates for explicit instruction: Comprehension word,
“In contrast to the wounded soldier who was sent home, the homesick Rebel soldier was sent to be reunited with his regiment.”
Use a strategy such as Knowledge Ratings at the beginning of the unit to determine which words need to be taught:
From this, you can differentiate which words need to be taught to whom and the number of words that need to be taught.
No matter how carefully words are selected, it will be necessary to differentiate instruction for students in the classroom and the nature of the word-learning task.